Tigers Football Preview: UCF

Saturday, September 30

Orlando, Fla.

6:00 p.m. CT

University of Memphis

UCF

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Sep 29, 2017 | Football

2017 Memphis FB Notes 09 30 UCF UCF Notes Gm3 Memphis 2017 American FB release 5b

Memphis, UCF meet in Saturday's conference opener for both teams.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Let's try this a second time. Or is it the third?

For the University of Memphis and UCF football teams, it probably doesn't matter. The only thing in the squads' sights is there is a game Saturday (finally!), and it's the American Athletic Conference opener for both (again, finally!).

On the possibility that some may not have heard, the Tigers and Knights were originally scheduled to meet Sept. 9 in Orlando, Fla. However, with Hurricane Irma bearing down on the state of Florida, the game was moved up a day to Sept. 8.

So, Memphis boarded a plane the evening of Sept. 7 to make the trip to Orlando. Around the same time of lift-off, Florida Governor Rick Scott closed all college campuses in the state. The Tigers landed in Orlando, and after a 45-minute wait in which American Athletic Conference, Memphis and UCF athletics officials discussed the situation, the Sept. 8 game was called off. The Tigers re-boarded the plane and returned to the Bluff City, landing around 1 a.m. (CT) on the morning of Sept. 8.

The contest wasn't immediately rescheduled as two conference games – Memphis at UCF and USF at Connecticut – were affected by Hurricane Irma. After days of reworking schedules of half the league's teams, the conference office announced Sept. 14 that the Memphis-UCF would be held Sept. 30.

This Saturday.

Tomorrow.

Let's play! (Finally!)

Quick Game Facts

Opponent	UCF
Day/Date	Saturday, Sept. 30
Time	6 p.m. (CT)
Site	Orlando, Fla./Spectrum Stadium
Television	ESPN2
Radio (Flagship)	600 WREC AM/Rock 103 (102.7 FM)

Memphis Head Coach Mike Norvell
(Opening comments)
"I was really happy for our guys, to go out there for homecoming, and finish non-conference play undefeated. We were able to accomplish the first goal that we set this season. Our guys went out there and battled for 60 minutes. There were some mistakes that were made, some things that we've got to continue to clean up. But, for our guys to go through the non-conference schedule 3-0, that's exactly where we want to be.

"Now all of our energy and focus goes towards the conference opener, and we kick off American Athletic Conference play in Orlando. It feels like we've done this before, but we are excited for the opportunity to go play a phenomenal football team. When you look at UCF, this is a team that has been completely dominant in their first two games. They went on the road to Maryland and got the victory. Their defense shut down one of the top rushing offenses in the country and held them to 42 yards. They created takeaways.

"Offensively, you can see the confidence they're playing with. It all starts with their quarterback. He's a phenomenal football player. He can spread the ball around to some highly-skilled players on the perimeter. They ran for over 250 yards in that game as well. So, it's going to be a heck of a matchup. I said this a few weeks ago: this is a championship-caliber team that we're going to compete against Saturday. It's going to take our best effort. I can tell you our kids are excited for this opportunity."

(On preparing for UCF a second time this season)
"The biggest difference is just having a better sense of who we are. When we were originally scheduled to play in Week 2, we had so many unknowns. What are our areas of strength? What are things we've got to clean up and improve on? That's probably the biggest difference between preparing for them Week 2 and now.

"We do have some things that are going to carry over (from our first preparation), and we'll put into this gameplan. The biggest challenge for a coach is to not get bored, because sometimes when coaches have more time, they want to add something and maybe throw in more scheme than is necessary. You don't want to make it too complex, you don't want to go overboard with the amount of information you're giving your players because they're the ones that have to go out there and play fast. You don't want to overkill your gameplan. We've spent a lot of time going back and evaluating our early thoughts, and we're going to put our guys in the best position to be successful."

(On UCF's defense)
"They're that good. Last year, they were one of the better defenses in our league, and the defense this year is going to be one of the best defenses in our league. They're playing at a high level. They knocked a quarterback out (last Saturday), and I know that does something to a team. But, you see how they stopped the run, the things that they were able to do and the passion they played with. That's a really good opponent, and one that is going to present some challenges."

Tigers Tidbits/Five Notes To Know

Saturday's game is the 11^th all-time meeting on the gridiron between the two programs. UCF holds a 9-1 series lead and has won the last nine over the Tigers. The two programs last met in 2013, and the Knights came away with a narrow 24-17 victory over Memphis at the Liberty Bowl. The Tigers' only win in the series was a 37-28 victory in the 1990 campaign.
Memphis has an all-time record of 15-26 in conference openers, but has won its last three in a row. The Tigers are 3-1 in American Athletic Conference openers. Memphis defeated Temple 34-27 in its 2016 American Athletic Conference opener.
The Tigers' first football opponent in American Athletic Conference play was UCF in 2013. Memphis hosted the Knights at the Liberty Bowl Oct. 5, 2013. UCF won that contest 24-17.
For the first time since 2007, a Memphis football game "lost" to Mother Nature and was forced to move. The Tigers' originally-scheduled Sept. 9 encounter with UCF was first moved to Sept. 8 as a result of Hurricane Irma closing in on the state of Florida. Then, the Sept. 8 game was called off. After a reshuffling of several conference schedules, the contest was moved to Sept. 30. The last time Memphis had a game date moved as a result of weather was Sept. 8, 2007. The Tigers and Arkansas State were scheduled to play in early September, but a nearly three hour rain and lightning delay – along with flooding – forced the contest to be postponed until Sept. 27, a Thursday night. The change rearranged the Memphis schedule to where the Tigers played three games in 11 days (Sept. 22, Sept. 27, Oct. 2). Memphis dropped a 35-31 decision to Arkansas State in that "moved-by-Mother-Nature" contest.
One member of the Tigers coaching staff that may feel at "home" Saturday, and he is offensive line coach Ryan Silverfield, who served as a Knights graduate assistant in 2006 and 2007. During his time in Orlando, Silverfield worked with 2007 NCAA rushing champion Kevin Smith, who ran for 2,567 yards in 2007. Silverfield also was a member of the Knights staff that led UCF to the 2007 Conference USA title and a spot in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Saturday's match-up features two American Athletic Conference Players of the Year from 2016. For Memphis, Tony Pollard was the league's Special Teams Player of the Year. Last season, he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and set school season and career marks in the process. On the other side, UCF's Shaquem Griffin was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, Griffin posted 92 total tackles, 20 TFL, 11.5 sacks and seven PBU.

Know Your Foe/UCF Facts-Stats Leaders

Quick Facts	2017 Statistical Leaders (2 games)
2017 Record: 2-0/0-0 The American	Rushing: McKenzie Milton (98 yds)
Head Coach/Yrs: Scott Frost/2^nd in 2017	Passing: McKenzie Milton (538 yds/5 TD)
Starters Returning: 15 (9 Off/4 Def/2 Special Teams)	Receiving: Dredrick Snelson (8 rec/107 yds); Tre'Quan Smith (7 rec/101 yds/2 TD)
Letterwinners Returning: 42	Tackles: Pat Jasinski (10 total/6 solo/0.5 TFL)